{
  "title": "Search in Europe, stage: silence, from 2020",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?continent=europe&stage=silence&from=2020",
  "filters": {
    "continent": "europe",
    "stage": "silence",
    "from": "2020"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 5,
  "page": 1,
  "pages": 1,
  "per_page": 50,
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "facets": {
    "country": [
      {
        "value": "BY",
        "label": "Belarus",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 165,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "HU",
        "label": "Hungary",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 74,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "PL",
        "label": "Poland",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 27,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      },
      {
        "value": "RU",
        "label": "Russia",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 172,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "europe",
        "label": "Europe"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "outlet_licensing",
        "label": "Licensing and closure of outlets",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
        "label": "Shutdowns and blocking",
        "count": 2
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
        "label": "Funding and ownership pressure",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "silence",
        "label": "Silence",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 4
      },
      {
        "value": "upheld",
        "label": "Upheld by a court",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "alexander-lukashenko",
        "label": "Alexander Lukashenko"
      },
      {
        "value": "mateusz-morawiecki",
        "label": "Mateusz Morawiecki"
      },
      {
        "value": "viktor-orban",
        "label": "Viktor Orban"
      },
      {
        "value": "vladimir-putin",
        "label": "Vladimir Putin"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 5
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "2021",
        "label": "2021",
        "count": 3
      },
      {
        "value": "2022",
        "label": "2022",
        "count": 2
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 5
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license",
      "title": "Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license",
      "occurred_on": "2022-09-05",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "RU",
      "country_name": "Russia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "RU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
      "tactics": [
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The suspension came about six months into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, during which several independent Russian outlets closed or moved abroad rather than operate under new wartime speech laws.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2022-09-05",
      "outcome_note": "The Basmanny District Court's suspension of the print license stood as of the ruling, with no reversal reported in the source reviewed.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "A national court ended a Nobel-recognized newspaper's print license outright over a sixteen-year-old paperwork dispute, not a temporary suspension or fine.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 172,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "A Moscow court suspended the print license of Novaya Gazeta, whose editor Dmitry Muratov shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, after the media regulator Roskomnadzor said the paper had not provided documents about a 2006 change of ownership.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-suspends-novaya-gazeta-license"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2022-russia-blocks-bbc-dw-meduza",
      "title": "Russia: regulator blocks BBC Russian, Deutsche Welle and other outlets",
      "occurred_on": "2022-03-04",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "RU",
      "country_name": "Russia",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "RU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "vladimir-putin",
      "leader_name": "Vladimir Putin",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2022-03-04",
      "outcome_note": "The blocks were not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "Russia's regulator blocked five foreign outlets and two social media platforms nationwide within days of invading Ukraine, alongside fifteen-year prison terms for coverage it called false; the White House ban excluded three outlets from one building, not from the country.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 172,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor blocked access nationwide to the websites of BBC Russian, Deutsche Welle, Meduza, Voice of America's Russian service and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty within days of invading Ukraine, alongside new prison terms for reporting the regulator called false.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-blocks-bbc-dw-meduza"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2021-belarus-blocks-tutby-arrests-staff",
      "title": "Belarus blocks Tut.by and arrests its editors as 'extremist'",
      "occurred_on": "2021-05-18",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "BY",
      "country_name": "Belarus",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "BY",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking",
      "tactics": [
        "detention_and_violence",
        "shutdowns_and_blocking"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "alexander-lukashenko",
      "leader_name": "Alexander Lukashenko",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Tut.by had continued reporting on the government's response to protests following the disputed August 2020 presidential election that kept Alexander Lukashenko in power; authorities revoked the outlet's official media registration in January 2021.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "Tut.by remained blocked and its former staff continued reporting from exile as Zerkalo; the criminal proceedings against staff continued.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 165,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Belarusian authorities blocked access to Tut.by, the country's most-read independent news site, searched its offices in three cities and arrested at least eleven staff, including its editor-in-chief, citing alleged media-law violations after the site had already lost its official media status.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-belarus-blocks-tutby-arrests-staff"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2021-poland-orlen-buys-polska-press",
      "title": "Poland: state oil company Orlen buys the Polska Press newspaper group",
      "occurred_on": "2021-04-01",
      "occurred_on_precision": "month",
      "country": "PL",
      "country_name": "Poland",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "PL",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
      "tactics": [
        "funding_and_ownership_pressure"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "mateusz-morawiecki",
      "leader_name": "Mateusz Morawiecki",
      "issue_of_the_day": "Not stated in the sources reviewed.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2021-04-01",
      "outcome_note": "The acquisition closed and was not reported as reversed in the sources reviewed.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "A state-controlled company bought a group of 20 regional papers reaching 17 million readers; United States funding pressure has cut money and reviewed licenses but has not transferred an outlet's ownership to the state.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 27,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Poland's state-controlled oil company PKN Orlen completed the purchase of Polska Press, a group of 20 regional newspapers reaching millions of readers, from its German owner, over objections from Poland's human rights commissioner.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-poland-orlen-buys-polska-press"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2021-hungary-klubradio-loses-broadcast-license",
      "title": "Hungary: Klubradio loses its terrestrial broadcast license over its tender application",
      "occurred_on": "2021-02-14",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "HU",
      "country_name": "Hungary",
      "continent": "europe",
      "jurisdiction": "HU",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "outlet_licensing",
      "tactics": [
        "outlet_licensing"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "viktor-orban",
      "leader_name": "Viktor Orban",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The decision affected one of the last Hungarian broadcasters to carry news and talk programming independent of the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.",
      "outcome": "upheld",
      "outcome_on": "2021-09-01",
      "outcome_note": "Hungary's Curia upheld the Media Council's denial of Klubradio's license renewal in September 2021.",
      "stage": "silence",
      "ladder_note": "A national broadcast regulator ended one of the country's last independent stations' terrestrial license over its paperwork, and the country's top court upheld the decision.",
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 74,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Hungary's Media Council ended Klubradio's decades-old terrestrial broadcast license, citing errors in its renewal application, after the station had built a following as one of the country's few remaining independent voices.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hungary-klubradio-loses-broadcast-license"
    }
  ],
  "other_results": [],
  "downloads": {
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    "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?continent=europe&stage=silence&from=2020"
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  }
}